Process of producing gasoline from solid material



MayZS 1929. v M'. J. TUMBL l 1.714363 -v EROCES'S QF PRODUGING GASOLINE FROM 4SOLID MATRIAL Filed June 25( 1924 i 5 Sheets-Sheet im @Q My 2s, 1929.

1M. J. TRUMBLE PROCESS 0F v4PRODUvC-ING GASVOLINE FROM SOLID MATERIAL Filed Jun@ 25, 1924 5 sham-sheet 2.

May 23 1929- M. J. TRUMBLE n 1,714,963

PROCESS OFRODUCING GASOLINE FROM SOLID MATERIAL AT'QTGJPMKS'. y

My .28? W29 M. J, TRUMBLE PROCESS OF PRODUCING GASOLINE FROM SOLID MATERIAL Filed June 25, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet PROCESSJOFv PRODUNG-GASOLINE FROM SOLID #MATERIAL n 4 Filed June' .-25, 1924 5 sheets-sheet 5 'x J J WON d @ff/MBL@ ATTOJf/VLMS means for producing from such material a.

. line,I and certain vclatile ley-products.

Patented May 2s, 1929.

' Uriiran 4sriirlfgs P ATE N1 f OFFICE.

intona. 'mui/mns, or Los ANGEL-Es, GALIFoBNIA.'

rRocEss or* rnonucine GA'soLINE FRoM-somnMA'rnnIAL.

Application. filed June a5,

- 'My invention relatesl to the utilization of solid material suoli, for example, as coal, lignite.'or shale, which, is capable, when heated, of producinfr" It is an object of the invention to provide highly volatilehydrocarbon, such as gaso- 4 It is a. further' object to provide-,means for yproducing suchphydrocarbon and by? products with/a very high degree .of econ omy,'and with' apparatus which is lowin firstcost 4and* easily maintained.

Itis a Ifurther objecty l my invention to provide' means by'which coal or lignite can be treated to produce gasoline4 or other; de

.sir-able ,h'ydrocarbmsleaving as a residue a high grade smokeless fuel.`

- y It is a further ob]'ect to provide means by 20 whichl lignite, brown coal, or Waste.v material from other processes may be sov treated, thus utilizing a very cheap material and producing .therefrom a 4valuable volatile hydrocarf bon and a valuable smokeless fuel.

'It is a well known .fact that 'many such materi'alsfgive off-hydrocarbon vapors when .heated but previous attempts .to utilize suchf materials have been ,commercially *unsuccess#' ful' due to the -hi'gh cost of operation vand 'the low value `of the procucts obtained. My'

` invention' greatly reduces the cost of operationand produces materials which arev in great demand at `a high price.

, 'My invention contemplates the cracking .of oil in a still in closecontact with {recrear-- bon. This free carbon acts as a catalyzer to promote the cracking reaction. In the f llowing 'specification I shall de- Lscribe my invention as applied to the treat- -to the production of .gasoline, lthoughI ment of coal, intending to include underf this term all solid materials lsuch as'lignite, coal, shale or the like, which are capable of giving oili hydrocarbonvapors' when heated. I shall also describe the invention as applied 'do not wish to be understood as limiting luy-- self thereto, since the'invention can be ap- -plied to the production of a wide variety of hydrocarbon' liquids.

i In the drawings, which are forillustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammaticview of aplant 'adapted to. carry on my. invention.

Fig. 2 'is a sectiony throught-the center of one of the superheaters `used in'said plant;

hydrocarbon vapors. c

1 924.v senat-No. 722,263.

of mounting the superheaters therein.

3 isia section'throu'gh 4a portion of Athesuperheater furnace showing the 'method Fig. Itis a ,section on a plane indicated. by y to-rts used in said plant? Fig;` 9 is a section on a the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

plane indicated by L Fig. `6'is,an end view of a portion'of said Fig.' 10 is a section through.tliecondenser 1 used inv said plant.

Fig. 11 is a section on a plane `'indicated by -ltlie line 11-11of Fig. 10. l y Fig. 12 lsfa'section through one of .the dephlgmators used in said plant.

Fig-13 is a plan view 'of the same.

Fig. 14 is a section on a plane indicated by i theline111--14 of Fig. 12. j.

In the plant illustrated "in the drawings, which is merely one convenient embodiment ofmanypossible embodiments of my invention, I use certain principal pieces of apparatus as follows: a furnace 15 for a vboiler 6; superheaters 17, 18,-i19, Q0 and 21; a steam circulating pumpv 22; stills 23, 24, 25

- and 26, each with its carbon pot which are numbered 27, 28,' 29 and 30'; a pair of re# .I

torts 31 andSZ; a power plant l33; three,

dephlegmators'l, 'and 36; a condensate tank 37;l a'condensate pump 38 39; and a separating'tank 4D.

These individual pieces of apparatus are `constructed as. follows: vThe furnace 15 and v 4the boiler' 16 are of any convenient form such as' are well known in the art o'fsteam gener- ,a condenser ation andv their detailsof' construction need not be describedhere. The boiler 'should preferably .be capable of delivering steam at' l -v a pressure of about two hundred pounds per square "inch, and may be conveniently` tired by means of gas produced in ythe plant as will 'hereinafter be explained."

The superheaters. shown i'n Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are merely' convenient forms of producing a high superheat on the steam deliveredby Y the boiler 16.` Each of lthem consists of a 7 'i tight cast shell 4:1 having an outlet 42 at its upper'end an inlet' 43 'at'the bottom; A central rod 4:4 extends 'downwardly through the -pended by flanges 47 in a superheater fur-I .nace 48, not shown in Fig. 1, the furnace 48 being red with any convenient fuel so that the steamis superheated therein to from 1000 -hdegrees Fahrenheit to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Other forms used if desired.

The stills shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are of special design and are well suited to my purpose. Theyconsist of a tight shell 50 havin0r heads 51 and 52 at either end there'- of. Secured intheheadp52' is a pipe 53 which has an innerclosed end 54 and which is closed at itsend- 55 outside the still by a plate 56. An inlet pipe-5,7 projects into the pipe 53 to a -point near its end 54 and an outlet pipe 58 connects into theA lower part of the pipe 53. A shaftV 59projects through the head 51 and has a stufling box 60 therearound. Thisshaft 59 may be driven by means of a pulley or .gear 61 from any con- 4venient source of power, not shown, the shaft bei-ng rotated at av speed of about twenty revolutions per AI ninute or. slower. fMounted on the inner .end'ef the shaft 59 is a plate 62, to 4which are attached two spiral Scrapers 634 and 64, the other ends ofthese scrapers. being attached to a ring 65 which turns.

freely on the pipe 53. Thel inner scraper 63 isv in contact with .the outer surface of the pipe 53 and serves to scrape carbon deposits off the outer surface of .this :pipe and the outer scraper 64 just clears the inner wall of the shell 50 and` servestofforce the carbon that .accumulatesin the still towards an opening 66 leading downwardlyinto a carbon pot 68r throughl a valve 67. The lower end of the carbon pot 68 has a flanged opening closedl by a cover 69, and the carbon pot has a steam inlet pipe 71 and a vapor outlet pipe 70. The shell is provided with a vapor outlet pipe 72, a condensate inlet pipe e 74 and a circulating pipe 73. v

The retorts 31and32 shown in Figs. 8 and 9 eachconsist of a tight shell 7 5A having atop provided with an inlet `opening closed by a cover 76." Detachably secured to the bottom of the shell is a cover 77. Supported vinthe top of the shell is an imperforate cone" 78 which protectsthe upper end of a vapor outlet pipe 79, which extends through the v generator 83.

The'dephlegmators 34, 35 and 36'are illustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 14, and while of superheater 'can beany standard form of dephleg'mator may be used, that illustrated has a peculiar utility in connection with my invention.

Each of thedephleg'mators 34, 35 and 36 i consists .of a shell 84 having tight ends 85 and 86. Extending longitudinally inside the shell and tightly secured to the walls thereof and secured to the end 86 isla partition 87, this partition stopping -a little short of the end 85 and leaving a space at the end thereof through which vapors' may rise.

Vapors arev delivered to the interior of the shell 84 through an inlet pipe 89, -tlowing ylongitudinally to the left, as shown in Fig.

12, below the partionv 8,7. Secured to-the vupper surface of the shell and projecting downwardly therefrom are a series of hali'les 90. Between each pair of ballles 90 there is an lupwardly extending balile 91, which is Welded tothe partition 87 The battles 90 and 9I` provide a tortuous channel aroundv -`which the vapors pass froln left to right, as

shown in Fig. 12,' tothe outlet pipe 92. Some Huid is'maintained in the, bottom of the dephlegmator due to thefact that a the bottom of the shell 84 and extends upwardlytherein, as shown. A sludge pipe 94, through which any hot deposits settlin in the shell can be withdrawn, is connecte at the extreme bottom of the shell. For the purposev of withdrawing any condensate from the spaces between the baffles 91, pipes arefprovided, these pipes beingsecured to the partition 87 and opening into the space above the partition 87, the lower end 'extending down to a point veryfclose to the bottom of the shell 84. In some cases it is desirable to provide a rectangular water box 96 which is mounted on top of the dephlegmator, as shown, this box having a central partition 97 secured to one end 98 of the boxand terminating just short of the other end 99 thereof. lVateris admitted to Vthe box through a pipe -100 and is withdrawn there# fromthrough a pipe 101. In some cases it is` not .necessary to .provide water-cooled dephlegmators and the ordinary 'air-cooled .type may be substituted. v

The tank 37 and the pump 38 arev standard 1types of apparatus, diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1 and in regard to which no special explanation is necessary.

The condenser-39 1s also of standard construct-ion but is illustratedin Figs. 10 and i ,11.

106 and pass'through the oil space 4107.

Cooling water is supplied `to one end of the condenser through a pipe 109, this water passing through the tubes 108 and being `withdrawn through -afwater outlet pipei'llO.

' the inlet pipe 57 is deliveredto theright -being that still' tofa pipe 115, through which it is conducted "to 'the' third superlieater 19.' From 4.this 'superheater vit is conducted hand endof the tube53, as shown in Fig. 5,

then passing backwardly through thetubef 53 and being'- deliveredthrough the outlet pipe 58 toa pipe 113 which delivers it to the bottom of the second4 superheater 18. F rom thisl superheater it delivered throughvapipe 114 to the inlet pipe 57 of the-still 24, delivered from the outlet pipe S of through a pipe 116 to the still 25 and then conducted through a pipe 117 to the superg` Y pipe 42 connected conducted through' a pipe 118 to the still 26.,`

1 and from the still '26y itis conducted' through a pipe 119 to. the bottom of the superheater v21. The superheater 21 delivers the' super-5 heated steam tol'a pipe 120.-.

A pipe 121 is also connected to the outlet of the super-heater A21, this pipe-'be-v ingpr'ovided with a valve 122 and being@ The pressure .side of this pump is connected through va pipe 123 with the inlet end of thev superheater 17.

A pipe 124. is connected v to the pipe 120 and delivers steam to a bottom connection 125 between the vretorts 31 and32. vValves 126 and ,127 are provided, by means of which the bottom connection' 125 may be connected n to theinlet manifoldA 81 of eitherv the retort' 31'or`the `retort 32. l The outlet pipes-72nd the stills 23,' 24, 25 and 26 are connected througll'valves 128,129,130 and11314vvith` a .vapor manifold 132,` 'the' vapor manifold connecting 'through valves l133 and 134 With the inlet manifolds 81'of the retorts 31.and

The stills5 23,24," 25 and 26 are connected in. a 'single series by means of pipes 135, 136 and 137, thesejpipes having valves 13S, 139 and 140k respectively. p' The vsteam inlet'pipes 71of the carbon pots 27,28, 29A

`and 30 are all connected through 'suitable val ves\14'1 'with a steam inlet pipe 142, which is provided ivith a valve 1434 and which connectsto the pipe 120 which is suppliedvvith superheated steam from the last of the superhe'aters 21. The outlet pipes 70 of the'carbon pots 2 7, 28, 29 and 30' are each connected througha valve 144 with an outlet manifold 145, this outlet manifold pipe 145 Connecting through valvesyl46and'147 With the to vthe inlet sideof the pump-22.

inlet manifolds 81 of the. retorts and The outlet pipes 7 9 of the retorts 31 and 32 are connected through-valves 148 and 149 with a pipe 150, which. is connected into the `pressure side vof the turbine 8 2. Thelow pressure side of the' turbine 82 is connected lthrough apip'e 151 with the inlet pipe 89 of the first separat-or-36, the vapor outlet pipef92 of this .separator being connected through va pipe 152 with the vapor inlet pipe.8 9 'of the second separator 35, the vapor outlet 92 ofthe 'second separator being connested through :a pipe l153 Withthe vapor inlet- 89v of theA third separator 34. The vapor'outlet pipe 92 of :the thirdseparator is connected through apipef154-to the space. 107 between the heads 105 and106 of the condenser 39; A pipe155 is connected into the-lootto'm-A of this l space and is connected Y into the'topkof the tanki'4`0. This vtank is provided with anoil .outlet'pipe 15,6, a Water outlet pipe'157, and a. gas outlet pipev `158.l 4'The gas outlet pipe 1,58 is connected through a valve 159 and a. pipe'160 With a gas burn- Y er 161 in the furnace 15 under the boiler' 16k This gas maj7 also belwvithdrawn for other purposes through a `p`1 pe"162 having avalve 163. 1

The liquid @una pipes 9s of ai@l dephieg;

mators 34,35 and 36are'connected through valves 162, 163 and 164 with a-manifold 165 which discharges into the tank 37. '.A`

pipe166 extends into A'the bottom of the tank 37 and is con-negated to the suction side of A the pump 38, this pump 'delivering condensate under pressurethrough a pipe 167 to a manifold '168. From the manifold '-168 this condesnate' may be delivered through valves 169, 170,171 or 172 to any of the` Y a 105 The method of operation of the inventionl sans 23,24, 2 5 or 2e.

is as follows: p. i The processbeing a cont1nuousone, the

stills 23, 24, 25'and 26 are kept partially full llO being 'supplied,automatically during the of condensate at all ti1nes,'this condensate operationofthe plant. i i The retorts 31 and v32'are charged with a solid material which.

it is desired to treat. This solid materialmay be coal, lignite, shale or anyjother ma? terial which Will produce rhydrocarbonfvapor by the application of heat. Thev steam` from lthe boiler 16 passes successively through the 'superheater17, the still 2 3, the superheater 18', the still 24, the super-heater 19, the still 25, the superheater 2O and the still 26. j In its-passage tliroughthestills it acts uponthe contentsthereof through the Walls of the p1pes 53, causing a vaporization y of the contents ofthe still. The exact aca tion of the still will be discussed hereinafter.V

After leaving the last of the stills 26 the steam is again superheated in the superheater 21". and passesthrough the pipes '120 and l 124 to the intake` manifold 81 of-one;of the retorts 31 .or 32. This steam is then delivered through the inlet 8O Ainto Vthe bottom of the chargeofnnaterial in the'retort, passing upwardly therethrough and causing a distillation ofthe productsthereof. The vapors 'produced-'in the stills 23, 24, 25 and 26 are also delivered Athrough the'v'a'por manifold 132 intothe-'intake .manifold .81 of' oneof the retorts 31er 32'. The vapors produced in. the stills 23, 24, 25 or 2.6 may for vapors. n some steam and primary vapors from the' stills. This' mixture which is termed the.` secondary vapor` isdelivered from the retorts 31 and 32 to the prime mover 82, being utilized in the turbine 82 to produ'ceelecthe apparatus.

trical power which isa by-product,7or in 'some cases may bethe principal product of Thestills 23, 24, 25 and 26 and theretorts 31 and 32 are preferably maintained at a pressure-of about 200 pounds y per square inch. Higher pressures are desirable but require more expensive apparatus. The question4 of the pressure tobe used is purely. an economic one. and need not concern us here.- C In the turbine 82 this pressure is prefern ably reduced to a little above atmospheric pressure and the vapors at this reduced presi sure pass through the pipe 151 into the Afirst dephlegmator 36. .In its passage successively through the'dephlegmators 36, 35 and 7,34 the vapor is cooled by contact. with the f (tensed, being delivered through the pipes 93- waterfcooledwalls of the shells 84 and conand the pipe. 165 in the form of a condensate into the tank 37. This -condensate is' a liquid hydrocarbon having a higher boiling point than the desired product. It the desired product is gasoline, this condensate is `a less` volatile and, at the present time, a less valuable liquid than the desired gasoline. y

The desiredproduct is carried through the pipe 154 and is condensed in the condenser 39,' together with'the water resulting fromv the steam. This Water is withdrawn fromI theA separator 40 through the pipe 157, gasoline being Withdrawn through the pipe 156.

In the operation of the process a certain amount of non-condensible gas is produced, and this gas is delivered through the pipe 158, to the, burner 161, or may be used for heating the super-heaters or for other purposes.v The heavy condensate in the tank 37 is drawn up by the pump 38 through the pipe 166 and is forced under pressure through the pipe'167 into the stills 23, 24, 25 and 26. The temperature ot the steam delivered into the pipes 53 of the stills issuiiicient to cracl the condensates in the still. This steam may be at a. temperature in excess of 1500 degrees Fah-` renheit'4 and should preferably be at least 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature necessary to lcrackthe contents of the stills 23, 24,25 and 26.' varies with" the material beingy ltreated andthe character ofthe prodvuct desired.' Thistemperature should prob'- .ably never be less than"700 Vdegrees'Fahrenheit land it will generallybe-necessary to run the temperature Yabove 8,50, degrees Fahrenheit. The cracking. ofy'hydrocarbonoil is nowawell knownfplienomenon and the temperatureandpressures necessary for crack` l ingare well understood.

` In the stills 23, 24,25 and 26 a molecular decomposition of the oil takes place,A producing primary vapor' whichcontains fr'actions having a 'boiling point considerably below` the boiling point ofthe condensate I being cracked. This primary jvapor 'is passed back'into' the material being treated tilling a-gent therein. Coincident with thel production of 4the'primary vapor. inthestills 23, 24, 25 and 26,

` carbon is produced in the stills, this carbon vheilig a troublesome factor in all 'other cracking vin the retorts 31 and 32, and used asv a dis- A- stantly cleaning thecarbon off the" outside of these tubes andforcing it from right to.

left vin the still as shown in Fig. 5. The

valve' 67 is ordinarily left open and the valves 141`and 1 44 of the carbon pots 68 are ordinarily closed. The carbon which is forced towards the end 51 ofthe stilltherefore falls through the opening 66 into the carbonv pot and accumulates therein. At periodic intervals the valve 67 is closed, the valves 14.1 and 144 being opened. The valve143 is then also opened and superheated steam is takenfrom'V` the ipe 120 through the pipe v142, being delivered through the inlet pipe 71 into the carbon in the carbon po't68. Due to the high temperature of this steam all condensates or other volatile matter in the carbon are carried oft through the valve 144 and the pipe 145, being delivered through the inlet man'- ifold 81 into one of the retorts 31 and 32. Steam is allowed to blow through the carbon in thel carbon pot 68 for a short time, the' valves 141 and 144 then being closed. Prcssureinthe carbon pot may then be relieved ,through a petcock 164, the plate 69 closing the bottom of the carbon pot being removed. The material 'in the carbon pot vwill then consist of a carbon which has various important industrial uses. As soon as the carbon pot is empty, the plate 69 is replaced andthe valve 67 is again opened to allow the carbon in the still to again be delivered into the carbon pot. In the prac- 1,714,9634 v l A.5

tical operation of the plant tlie stills 23, 24,

25 and. 26 operate continuously over long periods, the carbon-content being-.constantly reinovedby the use of the carbon pot.- i The retorts 31 and 32 are alternately' charged anddischarged. In' tlie initial treatment of a charge inthe retorts 31 andv 32 the primary vapors from the vapor mani- -lfolcl 132 are ordinarily sulicient to produce a. perfect c listillation-,the secondary vapors produced Atherefrom in the retort-S31 and 32 containing all of the 'low volatilescrdinai-ily in the raw materiah As soon asthese low boiling point volatiles have been removed 'from the hot residue, supeilieated steam is delivered through the pipe 12J: int-o the charge -i`n the retort and the contents thereof are distilled to dryness.

In the easel-of` a solid material like coal or lignite, which contains relatively'liltle ash, there results-'a material which toi-nis a high grade domestic fuel. IVheie the plant` is operated npon'sliale the residue lett. in the retort after it is treated with superheated steam consists almost wholly' of mineral.

matter mixed with some carbon.

In the operation of the plant it is oftenv desirable to operate the pump 22,'opcning the valve 122 and circulating 'superheated' steam from the top of the last superhea-ter 21 to the bottom of the lirst superheater 17. When so operated tlievsuperlieaters 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 su'pply substantially all of the heat used in the stills 23, 24, 25 and 26 and there is no loss of. latent heat therein. When so Y operated,A the boiler 1G is only called on to'supply additional steam to the closed cycle made u of the retorts and the superheaters, in the event that steam is drawn off from this closed path for the pur# -pose of blowing out the carbon pots orfor supplying heat to theretorts.

Inoperating on certain types of material very little steam is required for blowing out terial, the boiler supplies only a very small the carbon pots oi for treating the charge in theretorts. -When operating on this maamountof steam and the main heating is done by -the superheaters, the superheated steaml being circulated continuously by4 means .of the pump 22.' 'This produces a.

very high' economy of steam. since there no loss ofA latent heat in the stills. The

`:steam which is used in the carbon pots and.

the )rimary and secondary vapors produced int. 1e process, together with the steam used for finally blowing out l'the retorts, is' all conserved and delivered through the pipe 150 to the -steam turbine S2. -In the 'stra-in` turbine 'tlieenergy conta-ined in the primary' vapors is ve'il'y largely utilized to produce electric power. y t

`If-attach great importance to my novel method of cracking in the stills 23, 24, 25

and-26. Freecarbon is' produced in large quantities in these stills, due to the cracking of the oil, and this carbon is mixed with the liquid contenti'by the members 63 and (34 so that itis in'fvery intimate contact with the 'liquid at all tiines. I have found'tliat carbon in a finely dividedcondition will very greatly-promote the vcracking action, acting in a measure as a catalyzei. 'lhis'earbon gradually agglonierates inthe still and the larger masses settle to theA bottoni of the vStill andare forced intol lli'ecarbon pots GS. The. lin'elydivided carbon stays in suspension inthe oil.l i

I Aclaim as my invention q y`\ A process lfor treating'solid bituminous material` `for .the extraction! of volatiles which comprises: subJeeting a condensate from the distillation of solid bituminous in ateiial to a` cracking process in a cra'cking still; iecovering hot carbon resulting from said -ci'ackingprocess i n a receptacle separate from said -cracking still; passing superlieated steam 'and hot vapors ,coming from said cra-cking process and said carbon receptaelc respectively throng] 4bodyof solid bituminous material for di;.illing volatiles from said bituminous material; deplileg- 

